An apparatus for preparing food is known from EP 2 034 872 B1. The apparatus is generally used in a domestic setting and provides a means of preparing food for eating by circulating a flow of hot air around the food items to heat and/or cook the food. Such an apparatus generally comprises a housing with an enclosed food preparation chamber, into which food items are placed and a flow of hot air is then circulated around the food preparation chamber to heat the food by a fan which is driven by a motor.
During the heating process steam is generated from water contained in the food, which causes the pressure in the food preparation chamber to increase. Furthermore, other liquids such as oil are also discharged from the food. Therefore, a hot air vent is provided through the housing so that the air, steam and oil under increased pressure in the food preparation chamber is expelled through the hot air vent from the food preparation chamber to outside the apparatus.
However, a disadvantage of a conventional apparatus for preparing food is that the hot air in the food preparation chamber is known to heat up the housing of the apparatus. This may cause injuries or discomfort when a user comes into contact with the housing. Furthermore, it is also necessary to cool internal components, such as a motor to drive the fan, to prevent the components from overheating and having reliability problems.
One attempt to overcome the above problems is to provide a cooling air channel in the housing and a cooling air fan to urge cool air to flow in the housing to force excessive heat out of the apparatus to prevent overheating of the outer surface of the housing and internal components. Such a cooling air channel generally has an inlet at the upper end of the housing and an outlet in the lower end of the housing so that cooling air is urged to flow through the inlet, along the cooling air channel and from the outlet.
However, a problem with the provision of a cooling air fan and channel is that additional components are needed which increases the cost of the apparatus and reduces its reliability. Furthermore, the fan increases the noise of the apparatus during use.